Garment



Sept. 13, 1932. l H. GARFINKEL GARMENT 'Filed Nov. 28, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 K5, INVENTOR WS@ /my 65mm/fra B NX PM ATTORNEYS Patentedi Slept. I3, 1932 UNITEofsTArss PATENT OFFICEV HARRY GARFINKEL, F NEW YORK, N. Y., SSIGNOR TO HILSELF, GERALD RTTTEB .AND i GEORGE A. RITTER, AS COPABTNEBS, CONSTITUTING'THE FIRM 0F GABFINKEL @a RITTER, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y,

' Gunnar Application med November 28, 1931. Serial No. 577,781.

My invention relates to improved garments of theclose-fitting type, and more particulary to that type which is nontubular,'that is, ares at least in the hip and seat portion.

` lts object is to construct a garment of this general type made of woven material in such a manner that without permanentl losing its v original conguration it will rea, 'ly give in a transverse direction, especially in the region surrounding and just below the wearers hips. When therefore the wearer increases the transverse strain as she sits down, lundue -strainu on the seams, with consequent liability o tearing them is avoided, and when e l the wearer arises the garment will more readily adjust itself to the proper position. A further object of my invention is to construct a garment of this type which will retain its original form and not be distorted lengthwise after it has been subjected to lengthwise strain, for instance, by wear or by hanging.

The advantages of my invention are perha s most clearly evident when the same is odied in an undergarment of the type known as a slip which as now worn is fairly close-fitting. Its advantages are still present, although perhaps to a less marked degree, in the type of garment known as chemise and the type of garment known as step in which are made to tit somewhat more loosely than a slip. lt is of some advantage also in a nightgown which, although very loosely itted, is subjected `to transverse ,strains as the wearer turns over in a recumbent position. It is of advantage also in a non-tubular garment, known as a bobble, in which the flare is inwardly in a downward direction from the hip and seat portion.

I 40, While specially designed for use in connection with undergarments of the general slip or chemise type, it is of advantage also in the manufacture of outer garments and in skirts, in fact, in any garment which is subjccted to transverse strain in the hip and seat portion.

These objects of my invention are attained by so cutting and uniting at least four lengthwise extending pieces of woven material to v50 form the main body of the garment that, so

far as reasonably practicable, the lines of strain coincide with the bias lines of thel fabric; also by so uniting such pieces that the warp threads of each piece will be more nearlyin line with the filler threads of each adjoining piece than with the warp threads of i each adjoining piece. c

A piece of woven material cannot be stretched to any substantial extent in the direction of the warp threads or in the direction of the filler threads, but can be stretched to the 'greatest extent along a line substantially bisecting the angle formed by a warp thread and a ller thread. Such a line I call a bias o5 line. Obviously a piece of Woven material has many bias lines, half of which form one set of parallel lines and the other half of which form another set of parallel lines, the lines of the first set extending at right angles to the lines of the second se .v

ln the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of my invention when applied to a slip, Fig. 1 shows a piece of woven material whose faces are alike in texture and appearance, having indicated p thereonl the outline of the various pieces to be cut therefrom which, when united, will form the main body of the garment; Fig. 2 shows such pieces united except for the final lengthwise seam; F ig. 3 is a front view ofthe completed garment; and Fig. 4 shows the form of stitch used in constructing the garment.

The piece of woven material a shown in Fig. 1 has its selvage at b--b and therefore has its warp threads run in the direction parallel thereto. `F rom such piece there are cut panels c, d, e and f substantially alike in size and conguration,each panel tapering towards one end, each such end being further tapered; also triangular pieces g, it, i, 7c, for insertion between the tapered ends of the panels c, d, e and f after the latter have been united to forni the body of the garment.

In each of the panels c, d, e and fthe direction of the warp threads is indicated by a. showing of a single warp thread W and of the filler threads by a showing of a single filler thread F, the bias lines of each panel, 100

which extend substantially along lines bisecting the right angles formed y the warp threads and the filler threads, being indicated on each panel by a single lengthwise bias line B-L and a single transverse bias line B-T.

After the panels and inserts have been cut from the fabric a they are united in the manner shown in Fig. 2, namely by uniting panel d to panels c and e, and'panel f to panel e in the usual manner by seams, inserting the pieces g, it, z' and 7c into the triangular places left between the tapered ends of the panels, and then attaching them by seams to such tapered ends.

In the preferred form of my invention, the

panels are so laid (as shown in Figs. 2 and 3) that the warp threads W of immediately adjoining panels form more nearly an angle of 90c7 than an angle of 180 with the warp threads of each immediately adjoining panel when all are laid flat, the same being therefore the case also with respect to the filler threads F; thus the warp threads will follow zig-zag lines around the garment. In my claim I designate this arrangement byl stating that the angle is less than 135. In order to bring about this condition either the panels d and f or the panels c and e will have to be turned upside down from the position shown in Fig. 1, so that their reverse sides appear on the same side of the garment as the face sides of the two panels which are not turned upside down. If, however, the fabric is not reversible, for instance, the face has a satin nish and the reverse side a crpe finish, it is necessary'to cut one set of panels in the manner shown in Fig. l from a piece of material having the face upward and anotherY set of panels from a piece of the same kind of material having the reverse side up, and then take two panels of the first set and two panels of the other set and make the garment of the panels so selected.

The outer edge of panel e is then united to the outer ed e of panel f by a seam to form the substantially completed garment, which may then be ornamented in any suitable manner, and provided with shoulder straps 1-.l, as shown in Fig. 3.

As the panels are cut in tapered form, i. e. their sides are not parallel, and each panel in the completed garment tapers upwardly, the l corresponding transverse lbias lines of the four panels do not lie in the same straight line. In Fig.- 2 the bias lines B-T of the side panels a-e are drawn at about such portions of such panels as are subjected to the greatest transverse strain just below the hips, and the bias lines B-T of panels d and f are the ones which unite the respective ends of the corresponding bias lines B-T on panels c and e. The four bias lines B--T shown in Fig. 2 do not lie in the same line when the panels are laid down flat, but when the outer edges of panels c and f are united, and the garmentl is in position on the wearer, such bias lines lie substantially in thesame horikzontal plane; and the same is true with respect toA all other sets of corresponding bias' lines, in any'event such as surround the portion of the garment subject to stretch by the hips. Thus, when strain is placed upon the garment in a horizontal direction, for instance, when thewearer sits down, the transverse pull upon the fabric is substantially along all of such transverse bias lines.

The garment can therefore give, and strain upon the seams is avoided; on the other hand, when the wearer arises from sitting position, and the transverse strain is released, the garment will readily assume its normal contiguration, thus avoiding a riding up of the garment on the hips with the consequent necessit of smoothing it down. The panels should be cut from the material'in such a manner that when the garment is in 'position on the wearer the lengthwise bias lines extend substantially in a vertical direction so as to permit the garment to give lengthwise when subject to the usual lengthwise strain whenthe wearer is walking or sitting down, and to readj ust itself to normal position when such strain is removed.

In the preferred form of my invention, as already indicated, the warp threads of each panel incline at an angle approximately 90 towards the warp threads of the adjoining panels, a's indicated more clearly in Fig. 3 where a large number of warp threads W and a large number of filler threads F are shown. I have found by trial with completed garments of this construction that distortion in l a lengthwise direction is much less likely to occur than with garments in which the warp threads of one panel extend in approximately the same direction as the warp threads of the adjoining panels. -I have not as yet been able "to determine to my complete satisfaction just why this result is obtajined but I believe it to be due to the fact that the warp threads are usually either stronger, or more tautly woven than the iller threads and that therefore by my arrangement the garment is built up on a skeleton of strong or taut warp threads in zig-zag arrangement which serve to keep the garment from stretching in a lengthwise direction. 'If, for instance, the threads F in the center panel d of Fig. 3 were warp threads, the warp threads would not support each other but would form a. superposed series of continued warp threads extending in a somewhat horizontal direction and the garment would then be suspended on the weaker, more loosely woven, filler threads. In other words, any vertical force exerted on the garment, as by the weight of the skirt, canbe divided into two components parallel to the warp and filler threads respectively. Any pull on the filler threads extends only to the edge of the panel, where a warp thread running in the same direction then provides support against the force. In any event, this construction, by preventing sagging of portions ofthe garment, serves to keep the transverse bias lines in their normal positions.-

In order to facilitate give in a lengthwise direction when the garment is subjected to lengthwise strain, I prefer to make all of the seams, uniting the sides of the panels, by a stitch known as the zig-zag stitch illustrated in Fig. 4. A stitch of this kind will yield more' readily to lengthwise strain than a stitch made of threads which in whole or in part run in a lengthwise direction.

It is obvious that my invention need not be embodied in a garment constructed exactly as shown in the drawings but that many changes may be made therein without departing `from my invention as outlined in the appended claims. It is also obvious that I may increase the number of panels if style permits and that the greater the number of panels the more nearly will the transverse bias lines B--T shown in Fig. 2 coincide wi th a horizontal plane. Of course, an even number of panels would be preferable to an odd number so as to preserve throughout the garment the zig-Zag arrangement of the warp threads as shown in Fig. 3. The term bias lines as used in the claim is intended to de notelines forming angles of substantially 45 with the warp and filler threads.

I claim: In a garment of the non-tubular type hereinabove described, the combination of four or more panels, each panel constructed of woven material and having tapering edges, each edge united to the immediately adjoining edge by a seam, each panel having its o lengthwise bias lines extendin ksubstantially in a vertical direction when t e garment is in position on the wearer, and each panel having atleast such of its transverse bias lines as lie within the hip region lying substantially in horizontal lanes when the garment is in position on t e wearer, 'the warp threads of each panel forming with the warp threads of each adjoining panel angles of more than 45 butless than 135 when the panels lie in the same 1plane.

HAR Y GARFINKEL. 

